Zoning board approves pool variance at 75 Fourth Avenue with environmental safeguards

The Town of Stratford Zoning Board of Appeals on March 5 approved a variance to the town's 50-foot setback and granted a coastal site-plan (CAM) approval for the installation of an in-ground swimming pool at 75 Fourth Avenue, subject to multiple environmental and nuisance-control conditions.

The board's chair summarized the decision after deliberations that included technical testimony from federal and local regulators. "We will make the approval subject to all of the conditions that were enumerated by myself, the town attorney and the zoning enforcement officer during this meeting," the chair said during deliberations.

Why it mattered: The property sits adjacent to a small pond and stream and has unusual contouring, the applicants' attorney, Benjamin Proto, told the board. He said the proposed pool site "minimizes impact" on neighbors and wetlands and that the equipment would be moved away from the nearest neighbor and fitted with lighting that is "directed downward" to prevent intrusion into nearby bedrooms.

EPA Region 1 manager Jim DeLorenzo told the board the property was among those addressed during the Raymark cleanup in the early 1990s and that earlier excavations reached 7 to 8 feet in parts of the lot. "We plan next Wednesday to sample the area because of the 30-year-old age of the data just to confirm that they're not going to be excavating into Raymark waste," DeLorenzo said. He said, based on currently available records, the proposed pool appears sited in a previously excavated area but that sampling would confirm that no capped contamination would be disturbed.

Olivia Coleman of the Health Department told the board that contamination on file "doesn't mean that you can't do anything. It just means that we need to work with the applicant to make sure that they're doing any work safely" and that "health and engineering controls are in place to prevent any workers or anyone from being exposed." Both EPA and the health department said they would rely on targeted sampling to determine whether additional protective measures are needed.

The board attached several conditions to the approval: sedimentation and erosion controls must be installed before and during construction and inspected; pool construction must comply with EPA and FEMA recommendations, including leaving a one-foot buffer where contamination was previously identified; pool equipment must be relocated away from the neighboring property; lighting must be downward-shielded and LED where possible; and concrete blocks currently on the lot that are not used in construction must be removed after work is complete. The approval and conditions were adopted by roll-call vote 5'0'00.

The board also approved the coastal site-plan review (CAM) for the same property with the same stipulations, and staff noted DEEP had recommended FEMA-compliant pool construction to avoid obstructions at the pool lip that could interfere with storm surge flow.

What happens next: EPA said it would provide sampling data the following Wednesday and work with the petitioner to adjust pool location or depth if needed; the town indicated inspections and compliance checks will be required during construction.

The board's action was procedural and contingent on regulators' follow-up: the variance and CAM approvals include explicit compliance and inspection conditions and do not authorize excavation prior to confirmation of sampling results.